It All Started With A Letter
by wprosser2008
Summary: Chat Noir knows who Ladybug is, but that's just where it starts. When she finds out what else he knows, it all goes from there. And it all started with a letter. POSSIBLE Chat Blanc spoilers, I don't know. This is all inspired by the trailer. I've yet to see the real episode, so anything accurate is just a coincidence. LadyNoir, Adrinette.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This was inspired by the trailer for Chat Blanc. At the time of writing this, I've not seen the episode. I don't know if this is it any way accurate. I'm just speculating based on what I saw in the trailer.**

**I make no claims as to ownership of the characters. If I did, they would know each other's identities and be dating by now!**

**Now onto the story!**

* * *

_My dearest Ladybug, _

_Please don't freak out. I know. You're wondering how I found you. How I know it's you.  
I'll explain everything in person tonight at the top of Notre Dame Cathedral. _

_Please, meet me there tonight. We have a lot to talk about.  
Yours,  
Chat Noir_

"How could this have happened, Tikki?!"

"What, Marinette? What happened at school to get you so worked up like this?"  
_  
_"I received that letter anonymously in my school bag earlier could have possibly left it for me?"

"Well, there is a possibility it could really be Chat Noir. Maybe he goes to your school?" Tikki said to me, but she seemed a little nervous, like she knew something. Something she wanted to tell me, but couldn't.

"Tikki, do you know who Chat Noir is? How could you know? How could you not tell me that my partner was at my school?"

Tikki balked for a moment, trying to hide, but then realized she cannot hide the truth from me.

"I know who he is. I've known for quite some time. I had suspected previously as I could feel Plagg, you remember him, he's Chat's kwami, nearby in your school. But then, when you fought Dark Owl, I saw him. I know I shouldn't have looked. You didn't look, and I commend you for that, but I saw him. And… And Plagg saw you."

"You don't think Plagg could have told Chat who I am, do you?"

"Oh, no, Marinette. That's not possible. Just like how I cannot tell you who Chat is, Plagg cannot tell A…"

Tikki hiccuped.

"See? I can't even finish saying his name."

"Then how, Tikki, did he find me? There's no way that somebody, not even Chat Noir, could find me!"

"But he did. Somehow he, or somebody pretending to be him, found you and left you this note in your bag. Think, Marinette. There must be somebody who found out. Maybe you were caught leaving something somewhere? Maybe somebody saw you transform? I don't know for sure how it happened, or if it really did, but we must find out. You must go to see Chat tonight!"

I thought hard, but I couldn't think of anything. There was no time anybody ever saw me transform, I always made sure of that. But then, how could he know me? And how could I not know him?

"Okay, Tikki. I'll go. But what if it's a trap?"

"There's a very real possibility, Marinette. You'll just have to be extra vigilant. Be on your guard. But Marinette,"

She faltered for just a moment.

"Just know that I trust you. And Chat trusts you, or he wouldn't risk sending you that note. And you can trust him too. He'd never hurt you, in or out of that mask. That's all I can say without giving away his identity."

"Ok. Let's go, then. Tikki, spots on!"

I felt my transformation come over me. It always filled me with such a strength. I always feel more confident as Ladybug than ever do as Marinette.

As I go up to my balcony, I take one more look at the note, then leap out into the night.

I arrive at Notre Dame a little before eight. I looked all over, but I could find no sign of Chat Noir anywhere.

I was just about to leave when I heard him.

"Hello, Marinette. I'm glad you came. We have a lot to discuss."

* * *

"Chat Noir? Where are you? I can't see you!"

"I thought it best if you didn't see me until you hear what I have to say. I've been through a lot these last couple days. Finding out who you are is just the tip of the iceberg. Once you've heard me out, if you're willing, I'll tell you who I am. I'm sure you'll want to know by the time we're done here."

"First, how do I know you're really Chat Noir? How do I know you're not a Copychat again?" I ask, looking all around, trying to find him, but finding nothing.

"If I were a Copychat, don't you think I'd have attacked you by now? But if you insist. When we met for the very first time, as Ladybug and Chat Noir, anyway, we had just changed for the first time. I was walking on my baton as a tightrope, and you fell from the sky. You're yoyo string tangled us up upside down a few inches over the street. When you introduced yourself to me you said you were Mar, then corrected yourself to say 'madly clumsy'. You know, it's funny. Looking back, I should've recognized that you were about to tell me your real name. But, in my defence, we had just met that day."

I blushed at the memory of my first time meeting him. I was new to my yoyo and it got out of hand quickly.

"Okay, I believe you. But that still doesn't explain how you know who I am?"

"That's easily explained. You left me this."

He stepped into the light, holding a pink envelope.

"Strange that Marinette would have Ladybug leave a personal note. You were fleeing my bedroom when I came in and saw you."

I looked in his hand and saw a familiar pink envelope. I knew that envelope. There was only one person who could possibly have it. I had left that envelope on Adrien's bed, just a couple days before.

"A… Adrien?"

"Hi, Princess," he said, blushing slightly.

I fainted.

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was back home, tucked snugly into my bed.

"Tikki? Where are you? I just had the strangest dream."

"I'm here, Marinette. But… I don't think that was a dream."

"Oh, it had to have been. In it, I found out Chat Noir's identity, and he was Adrien. It had to be a dream. Don't you think if my partner had been the boy I'm in love with, have been in love with for three years, I'd have known about it by now?"

"That's just it, Marinette. You didn't dream that. Adrien is up on your balcony right now."

I felt my cheeks flush. Had he heard me? How did I get home and tucked in?

"You might want to go up and talk to him. He's been waiting there for almost an hour."

I shuffled out of my bed and climbed up onto my balcony where, sure enough, Adrien Agreste was waiting for me.

He looked over at me, with a smile, but he also looked nervous.

"Hi, Princess. Sorry to give you such a shock. I just had to explain who I am to you before I tell you everything else that happened to me."

"So… You really are Chat Noir? I didn't dream that?"

"No, you didn't. I really am Chat Noir. And you really are Ladybug."

"Ok, I believe you. So what happened to you that was so important that you had to reveal yourself to me?"

"Well, it's somewhat of a long story. I'll start at the beginning. A few days ago, you left that letter confessing your feelings for me. For Adrien. Which, you already know, I feel the same for you."

"But you said you were in love with Ladybug. You never even looked my way!"

"But you are Ladybug. In or out of the mask, you're still the same confident, caring, self assured person. Remember when you ran for Class President? Or when you had Julika model for your fashion line? Only someone so caring and wonderful would put her own feelings aside, for the betterment of her friends.

But that's not the point. After you ran off, I chased after you. You, of course, thought I was just Chat Noir at the time. But then… Well, you know…"

"You got akumatized. Yes, I remember. You were particularly difficult to defeat. It was hard for me to fight you knowing you were my innocent partner. All of Hawkmoth's victims are innocent. And the sooner we find out who he is, the sooner we can beat him, and stop him from harming any more innocent people."

He hissed slightly, as though in pain.

"That's just it, Marinette. Like I said, I've had a big week. I know who Hawkmoth is."

"What!" I screamed. "And you couldn't tell me this before, why? And why come out and tell me the truth? Why not just tell me as Chat Noir?"

"Because… Hawkmoth is… my father."

I stood there, in complete shock. I cannot believe what he just told me. How could his father, my idle, be our worst enemy? It didn't make any sense. He had to be wrong.

"What makes you think Hawkmoth is your father? Your father is a wonderful man!"

"My father puts on a good act. But you don't see him at home. Cold and distant. My last birthday, he got me a scarf, but he never even said Happy Birthday to me. I didn't even see him. Natalie, his assistant, gave it to me from him."

"Umm… About that scarf…"

"It was one of the nicest things Father ever gave me. It's silky and blue."

"I know. I made it for you. I forgot to sign the card."

"So my father didn't even get me anything for my birthday? See what I mean. Cold and distant."

"So you suspect your father because he's a workaholic?"

"No. And I don't suspect. I know."

"How, Adrien? How do you know?!"

"Because, unlike most of Hawkmoth's victims, he brought me to his lair. And below his layer, he has,"

He paused, swallowing, gathering his confidence to continue.

"He has my mother in a glass coffin. He told me that it was his wife, and he needed our Miraculouses because, if he gets both of them, he can wish for anything and it will come true. He told me that his wish is to save his wife and bring her back."

"Adrien,"

I paused, letting what he had just told me sink in.

"Adrien, you do know he can't do that, right? Not really. Whatever he wishes, it will come true, but at a cost. In order to save your mother, another innocent life will have to be taken."

"I know, Marinette. That's why, even in my Akumatized state, I didn't give it to him. But I had to make him think he was in control. So I promised him your Miraculous first, then I'd give them both to him."

"Does he know who you are? Who we are?"

"No. He never asked who I was. I think he suspected who I am, but I don't think he knows who you are. It would seem odd that he took me into his lair and told me his plan if he doesn't think we have a connection. He's never done it before. But, when I didn't react to seeing my mother, I think I threw him off."

"So what happens now? I can't ask you to fight your dad. Do we go to Master Fu and tell him what we know? Do I need to get a new partner?"

"No, Marinette. I know what I need to do. My dad died when my mother did. Hawkmoth is not my father. My father was a loving, kind man. Losing my mother made him bitter. I fear there is no saving him."

"But can you do it? Can you fight him?"

"To save the world? To save you? Any time."

"Well, then. We better get planning."

* * *

**A/N: Wow. That's the most that I've written in a long time! I don't quite know when chapter two will be up, as I'm just writing in my VERY spare time, but hopefully it'll be in the next week or two.**

**I'll be honest, just as, at this point, you don't know what will happen next, neither do I. The way I write is simple. I get an idea in my head, usually the start of one, and I let my fingers do the work. I never know what will happen next. It just flows out of me. I wish I could tell you how long this will be, but I truly don't know.**

**Please review, and if you enjoyed it, please feel free to follow either this story or me in general. I have one other very short MLB story I wrote a few months ago, and anything before that is YEARS old.**

**Until next time, fair reader!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Three days previously, Adrien_

As I got home from my fencing class, I wasn't expecting anything out of the usual. But what I found was certainly not usual.

Upon entering my bedroom, I saw Ladybug leaping out my window. My Lady was in my bedroom. Why, I don't know. But she was here.

Then, I noticed something on my bed. A note.

I ran over to it, thinking it was a note from Ladybug. Had she found out who I was? No. There was no way. Not even Nino, my best bud, knows that I'm Chat Noir.

Upon seeing the outside envelope, however, I saw that it was from my friend, Marinette.

"Why would Ladybug be dropping off a letter from Marinette?" I asked Plagg.

"Maybe Marinette ran into Ladybug and asked her to deliver it for her? But don't think about that. Let's talk about cheese! There's camembert, of course, but there's also gouda, and asiago, and mozzarella if you're into pizza, and gruyere. All are great cheeses for melting, and you know I just love melty cheese. What's your favorite kind of cheese, Adrien?

It seemed reasonable, but for some reason, I had my doubts. Plagg seemed overly eager to push this conversation off to cheese. Not an unusual subject for him, but this seemed excessive.

"Plagg. Please stop. Why would Ladybug be delivering a letter for Marinette unless… Ladybug _is _Marinette?"

"What? No, kid. You're off your rocker. No way Ladybug is Marinette! Now let's talk more about cheese!"

The more Plagg denied it, the more convinced I was that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person.

"Kid, you're forgetting. What about Multimouse? You saw that that was Marinette, and she gave the Miraculous to Ladybug right in front of you! How could both of them be Marinette?"

"I've met Rena Rouge, Plagg. I know how illusions work. I'll bet you if I had went up and spoken to Marinette, she would've vanished the second I touched her."

"Kiiiiiid! Please, stop. You don't know what you're doing!"

"I've got to find her, Plagg. She's my Lady, and now that I know, there's nothing that can keep us apart!"

I left my room, and dashed down the stairs, running out of my house, right past the Gorilla. I'd search all night if I had to, but I was going to find Ladybug. No, Marinette. No, Ladybug. This was going to take some getting used to.

* * *

After a bit of searching, I found her.

"Marinette! I need to speak with you!"

"Adrien? What are you doing here?"

"Marinette. I know who you are! I know you're…"

I looked around, making sure there was nobody who could overhear.

"I know you're Ladybug."

Marnette looked started for a moment, blushed slightly, then started to stammer.

"I…. Ee…. Wha… Me? Ladybug? Hahaha. Oh, Adrien. That's so funny. Me, Ladybug? I could never be Ladybug! She's too strong and confident. Not like me at all!"

"Don't say that, Mari. You're one of the most special people I know! When any of our friends need a hand, you're always right there to give it! When there's an akuma, you take charge and get everyone to safety!"

"That's just who I am. But that doesn't make me Ladybug!"

"Oh, but I think it does. And that makes you..."

"Adrien, please stop this! I'm not Ladybug. I could never be Ladybug! Now, if you want to talk sensibly, please, give me a call. But not right now. Now while you're delusional!"

She ran off down the alleyway, crying.

"Marinette. I'm sorry I…"

I stopped chasing her when I saw the butterfly. Ladybug or not, all I saw was an Akuma about to get my friend. I couldn't let that happen.

"Plagg, claws out!"

"Wait, Kid! Think this throooooooooooooouuuuuuuuggh!"

"Marinette! Look out! There's an Akuma!"

"Huh? Chat Noir? Where did you come from? Where's Arien? What was that about an Akum- aaaahhhh!"

"CATACLYSM!"

I crushed the Akuma in my hand, but I think I startled Marinette. But that was the last thing I remember clearly before…

_Hello, Chat Blanc. I am Hawkmoth. Your friend has been lying to you all this time. She denied you when you just wanted to talk. Team with me, and I'll give you the power to make anybody do whatever you say, or you can eliminate them! All I ask in return is that you get me Ladybug's Miraculous, and give me yours as well when all is said and done._

"Yes, Hawkmoth!"

"Chat? What are you doing?"

"You denied me, Marinette! You claimed not to be who I know you are! Prove me wrong! Fight me now, without Ladybug present!"

"Chat Noir, please, snap out of it! You're the hero! You're not supposed to give in to Hawkmoth!"

"But Hawkmoth will give me my heart's desire. And I desire you, M'Lady!"

With that, Marinette ran away. Down the alley she ran. I attempted to chase her, but she somehow evaded me.

"You can't hide from me, forever, Marinette!"

"She wasn't hiding! She was just calling in a friend!" Ladybug appeared.

"Ah. Ladybug. I see you come when Marinette isn't around. How convenient!"

"Chat Noir, stop this! You're my partner! I don't want to fight you!"

"But that's a shame, Bugaboo. Because I do want to fight you! Three years of being your sidekick! Three years of me telling you I love you. And three years of you pushing me off to the side because you claim to be in love with somebody else! Tell me. Who is this other boy? I'll get rid of him, then we can be together!"

"Chat Noir, listen to yourself! You're talking about harming an innocent boy! Just to prove your love for me? How could you ever think that would be ok?"

"I am not Chat Noir! I am Chat Blanc. And I will not be denied! I know who you are, Marinette!"

I ran at her, my baton at the ready.

"Chat Noir! Please! I don't want to do this!"

I screamed as I ran at her.

"Chat, I'm sorry, but you made me do this! Lucky Charm!"

From the sky fell a teapot.

She ran away. I thought about chasing her, but I knew she'd be back. She always comes back.

_While we're waiting, Chat Blanc, please, come to me. There are things I must show you, to know I can trust you. Come to this location in the next 30 minutes,or I shall take away your powers!_

"I'll be there, Hawkmoth!"

Knowing full well that Ladybug would be back soon, I left to the place Hawkmoth was showing me via telepathy.

* * *

"Greetings, Chat Blanc. Welcome to my home. There are things I think you need to know if we're going to work together. You, more than any other I've worked with in the past."

"I'm ready, Hawkmoth."

"Then come with me."

Together, we stepped onto a platform, and we were lowered down. I felt as though we were going down hundreds of feet, when finally, we came to a stop."

"I felt it prudent to explain to you, my former sworn enemy, why I am after the Miraculous. Perhaps then you can understand. I'm not all that bad. I've never truly harmed anybody. I always knew Ladybug would heal everything. But I need the power of your combined Miraculous to bring back something precious to me."

"And what would that be?"

"My wife."

A door opened, and we came to a meadow, deep underground. Hundreds of pure white butterflies fluttered all around. And in the middle of the meadow, was a coffin. Inside the coffin was a woman. A woman most familiar. My mother.

I snapped. Suddenly my head was clear. I could think for myself again. But I knew if I had any chance at all of getting out of here alive, I had to act the part of Chat Blanc.

"This is your wife? I know her!"

"How could you possibly know her?'

"In my personal life. She was in a movie years ago. I saw it only one time, but I remember that face. What is her name? Emma?"

"Emilie. Her name is Emilie."

"And why show her to me? As you said, Ladybug and I have been trying to take you down for three years. Why trust me?"

"Because, I need you to understand why I do what I do. And because, if Ladybug is able to cure you, you won't remember any of this anyway."

"I see. Well, that won't be a problem. I'm your man, Hawkmoth!"

"That's what I wanted to hear."

Hawkmoth brought us back up to normal level and had me hunt down Ladybug.

"I'll find her and bring you her Miraculous, so you can bring back your wife, Hawkmoth!"

"Go and get her, Chat Blanc!"

* * *

I was able to track Ladybug down after searching high and low for her.

"Ladybug. Where are you, little Ladybug? Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"I'm here, Chat Blanc! And I've bought backup! Hit it, Marinette!"

Suddenly, Marinette appeared from nowhere, and threw a second yoyo to Ladybug."

"Sorry, I can't do more, Ladybug! You're the superhero. I'm just a nobody."

"It's okay that you couldn't do more, Marinette, but you're not a nobody. Everybody is worthwhile. And everybody can come together. Together, we'll rescue Chat Noir, and defeat Hawkmoth!"

"I wouldn't count on that!" I screamed. I may be myself, but I had to make it look convincing for Hawkmoth, who I knew was always watching.

"Waters raise!"

Suddenly, the water from the Seine started to overflow their banks, and kept raising.

"What! But that's not one of your powers!"

"A gift from Hawkmoth. You may remember it from Syren. Now, let's go up, unless you'd rather swim!"

As the waters slowly but surely rose, Ladybug had but no choice to seek higher ground. I gave chase, until, finally, we were at the top of a highrise skyscraper. 

* * *

The fight lasted several hours, and finally ended when Ladybug realized the Akuma was in my glove.

"Mar… Ladybug? What's going on?"

"It's okay, Chat. Hawkmoth was able to akumatize you, but I was finally able to save you. You put up a heck of a fight!"

"Right. Hawkmoth. Listen, Ladybug, I have to go. I've got a lot I need to to think about. I'll talk to you next time I see you."

"Chat, wait!"

I ran home. I had to think over everything I had learned. Marinette is Ladybug. My father is Hawkmoth. What am I going to do?

* * *

**Sorry this chapter took so long, and I know I'm not good with fight scenes, so I just kinda skipped it. Sorry. I know this chapter wasn't the best, but it had to be a filler chapter, to give Chat's backstory for the story in general.**

**I'd also like to point out that, at this point, I have seen Chat Blanc (as well as the rest of the season) but I'm trying to stick with the story that I had in my head when I predicted the plot.**

**I'm not quite sure when the next chapter will be up, but hopefully it'll be soon. Thank you for reading, and please review!**

**Until next time, dear reader!**


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